Indians growing richer and less healthy: study

Indians are growing richer, but they are also adopting unhealthy lifestyles that could take years off their lives and threaten economic growth, a major study said yesterday.
In a wide-ranging review of India's under-resourced health system published in the British magazine The Lancet, studies by a clutch of top doctors flagged some particular medical downsides linked to economic progress.
"Rapidly improving socioeconomic status in India is associated with a reduction of physical activity and increased rates of obesity and diabetes," said a paper on chronic diseases and injuries led by Vikram Patel from the Sangath Centre in Goa.
With more money in their pockets, Indians are exercising less, indulging in fatty foods and risking injury by driving more and faster on the country's notoriously dangerous roads, often under the influence of alcohol.